A busy day at the ranch for over 300 speechwriters who attended the first full day of the conference. Here’s a list of the main points I noted from the six sessions I attended. Since the day ran on parallel tracks, there were a whole other set of presentations I did not capture.

Also, I’ll be writing up my various hallway and meal conversations in a later blog after the conference ends. There are speechwriters here from the PTA, TVA and NSA not to mention the FBI, Health Ministry of Holland and a whole lotta consultants.

Meanwhile, this is some of what I heard today:

David Kusnet Speechwriting in a post-rhetorical era: Is the era of Big Speechwriting over?

The opening keynote delivered in the very the hotel where FDR composed the speech that contained the impassioned plea We have nothing to fear but fear itself. Kusnet was one President Clinton’s main speechwriters, now at the Economic Policy Institute.

Notable points:

Ron Kirkpatrick Dump the outline! Structure speeches for maximum impact

Ron is the Manager of Executive Communications at Toyota, USA. He took us through the template from his friend Mark Walton’s book Generating Buy-in: Mastering the Language of Leadership which shows how the intent of every speech should be to build a connection between what is important to the audience and the objective of the speaker via a strategic storyline that tells of a positive future for the audience. The best example of compelling strategic storylines are 30 second television ads and company taglines like GE’s We bring good things to life.

An interesting tie-in with Kusnet’s plea that we open the speech with something that makes the audience sit up and take notice is the suggestion we start with a solid ‘Scene Setter’ – such as a topical newspaper article, reference to current event or something to grab their attention. Developing the body of the speech follows the ‘law of three’ (Faith, Hope, and … / Lights, Camera, …) and gives a framework to deliver three targeted messages with supporting evidence from stories, data and business experiences.

The all-important, and oft-missed, conclusion must contain a call-to-action – something that, in my experience, many executives seem to need the most help articulating.

Walton’s book offers a good practical template that mirrors that used by Speakeasy Inc’s class on content development. Well worth checking out for the $13.75 amazon.com price.

Tack Cornelius Regrets of a Corporate Speechwriter

Tack continued with more of the practical tips he shared in yesterday’s pre-conference session.

Lunch The Best Advice I ever got!

Assorted senior speechwriters shared their favorite tips ‘n tricks, the best advice they were ever given in their careers (apologies for losing track of who said what):

Blanchard Hiatt Reconcilable Differences: How to be a speechwriter in a PowerPoint world

Blanchard is director of executive communications at Avaya, Inc. He shared a medley of PowerPoint tips n’ tricks – everything from suggestions on minimum font size to acknowledging of the wisdom of Edward Tufte.

The Ten Commandments of Wisdom for Presentation Graphics:

1. Speak to you audience before launching your visuals
2. Keep eye contact with your audience, not with your visual aids
3. Avoid reading your slides to your audience
4. Keep text to a minimum; let images and graphics illustrate and dramatize your points
5. Use a font style that is simple and large enough to read at a distance (san serif 20-24)
6. Keep the number of points to 3-5 per slide
7. Ensure consistency of syntax on each slide (if the first bullet point starts with a verb, so should all)
8. Take the time to introduce, and allow the audience time to absorb, complex information
9. Put your slide titles to work – they should help deliver the message (think headlines!)
10. Turn the projector off to focus attention and reclaim the spotlight

Ron Shewchuk What you need from your speaker and how to go about getting it

Ron is a Canadian speechwriter working with a number of different companies. He shared his own ten commandments for the speakers he writes for:

1. Don’t take the name of your company in vain
2. Always check the facts
3. Don’t whitewash the part or paint too rosy a picture of the present, or falsely brighten the future
4. Keep the speech short
5. Use plain language
6. Present a thesis, back it up, and end with a call to action
7. Don’t say anything you would not want to see in the newspaper the next day
8. Understand your speech has a life after you deliver it (leverage it!)
9. Make the speech consistent with company values
10. Never publicly refer to your speechwriter

He then shared his own list of a speechwriter’s responsibilities:

That’s all for tonight, folks!